


Shepherd to Lamb

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura-centric, i dont even know anymore, i think, there's magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22771480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Between stupid idiot blondes and brooding onyx dragons, Sakura just wants to get this quest over with already.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	Shepherd to Lamb

**Author's Note:**

> i dont know what im writing nor what im doing anymore guys i dont even

Sakura stares blankly at the sky, wondering what sort of horror she’d committed in the past to be reincarnated with these two idiots.

“No,” Sasuke hissed, fangs peeking out over his lips. “Shut up, you don’t even know what a _chimera_ is, much less a _kirin_.”

Naruto responds with a tackle, his fingers already shifting into wicked claws as he screeches. “You ponsy Uchiha don’t even leave the house, how the hell would you know, eh?!”

“Because I actually know how to _read--_.”

“Yeah, fat load of good that is--.”

“Not my problem you’re--.”

“Don’t even start--!”

“ _Moron!”_

“ _Bastard!”_

Idiots.

Sakura’s got places to be and people to visit, and she’s too tired to deal with this shit.

With a barely restrained growl, Sakura grabs each man by the ear-- viciously twisting as she forces them off of each other. Then, with a mighty heave, throws them into opposing sides of the clearing. “If you dragons don’t shut up right now, I’m going to throw you off this gods damned mountain and bargain your souls off to the Arcana!” 

Naruto rubbed his head with a low-pitched whine lodged in his throat. “But _Sakura-chan_! He started it; didn’t you hear him making fun of me? It wasn’t my fault-- honestly, you’re all just against blondes.”

Sasuke snorts, staggering to his feet as he uses a nearby tree as a counterweight. With a scowl, he settles a withering glare at his rival. “Shut up. You’re annoying me. Why is he even here?”

Massaging her temples in a futile effort to ward off the coming migraine, Sakura bites out her response through a tense, clenched jaw. “Because, _Uchiha_ , he’s the pig zodiac. You’re the snake zodiac. We need _both of you_ in order to find the other ten zodiacs and complete the cycle, so we can go and communicate with the gods to see why they're throwing a bitch-fit.”

Lips drawing back into a sneer, Sasuke just levels her with a heavy obsidian gaze. “I don’t need him. I’d sooner cook him into neat strips of bacon.”

Wandering closer, Naruto rolls his eyes as he casually brushes the remnants of dirt from his travelling cloak. “Real original, asshole. Try something a bit more creative next time?”

Sakura sighs harshly, sharp emerald eyes cutting into their growing argument. “Boys… I will beat you unconscious and drag you the rest of the way if you keep pissing me off.”

They abruptly stop, sweat dripping down their necks. Sharing a quick glance with each other, Naruto throws an arm around her shoulder and laughs nervously. “Sure thing. Where are we off to now, leader lady?”

Sakura smiles primly. 

“I’m _so_ glad you asked, Naruto. Because we’re going to your favourite place…” Without further ado, she pulls the marked map out with a flourish and proudly holds it up to their faces. The reaction is instantaneous.

Naruto’s jaw drops open, arms hanging loosely at his sides while Sasuke falls to the ground in horrified resignation. 

Vivasia, the Golden City. The sleaziest location this side of the country, with enough crime and gold to make a matchmaker _cry_.

It’s also where Naruto’s aunt lives. Naruto’s cool, badass wood-ent aunt, Tsunade.

Sakura _loves_ Tsunade-- even if she doesn’t particularly understand how a kickass wood-ent and a sissy dragon can be related.

Waving a wild finger in her face, the blonde backpedals wildly-- the more animalistic features of his race coming to life in his panic. Sharp teeth, slitted eyes, glowing red veins; the whole nine yards.“No, no, no _nonono_ , you can’t take me back; I’m not going back there. You can’t make me, Sakura-chan! She’s going to make me eat _vegetables!_ ”

She steps forward threateningly, a challenging smile on her lips. “But I _can_.” As if to prove it, the land rumbles as she takes another step, cracks cob-webbing out from beneath her heel.

Wisely shutting his mouth, Naruto slumps over before marching back to camp-- Sasuke following not too far behind.

Finally.

Savouring the moment alone, Sakura steps closer to the cliff’s edge-- breathing in the scents of the distant lavender fields and waterfalls. Almost unbidden, a memory strokes the forefront of her mind-- bright childlike laughter filling her ears.

_“Ino! Ino look!”_

_Turning around, curious sky-blue eyes turn to her own-- a bright grin already teasing her lips upwards. “Sakura! Come here, lemme see-- lemme see!”_

_Opening up her hands, the pinkette revealed the small creature hidden in the palm of her hands. “It’s a baby wolpertinger. See? You can see the wingbones beneath the fluff, and the lil’ knobs on their head!”_

_Ino leaned closer, awe and joy lighting up her face. “Wow… I’ve never seen one before. Sakura, this is amazing! No one’s ever been able to find one before!”_

_Sakura flushes, a wave of embarrassment making her shy away. “I-It’s nothing. I-I just… I like the woods.”_

_Something fond and indescribably affectionate fills Ino’s expression. Her grin twists into a tender smile, and the pinkette feels something flop over in her chest. “Sakura...” she trails off, before shaking her head. With a shrug of her small shoulders, the blonde grins again._

_“Let's set the wolpertinger free. Come on, slow-poke!”_

_“I-Ino! S-slow down!”_

_“Catch up!”_

_“Ino!”_

_“S-Sakura--!”_

_“Ino?”_

_“Help me--!”_

_“ **I**_ ** _NO!_ ** _”_

It's been years since Sakura lost her. Several long, lonely years and it feels like she’s spent an eternity without the sun. There’s a hollow space in her chest, a void that appeared as soon as Ino disappeared into the Whispering Woods that crested the Nara lands and… And never came back out. Just like that, she was gone like a bird in the night. Not a clue to where she'd disappeared off to, and not a single sighting of her in the five years since it happened.

Nobody knew what made the gods lash out that day; or why the spirits have been provoked in general. All across the Elemental Nations, unexplained disappearances continue. From man to child; no one is safe. No one knows where they go, only that they’ve never come out, and that if they do... It's as a corpse, mutilated beyond recognition with glowing maggots dripping out of their intestines.

Sakura, armed with will and ink-pot, has been hounding for any scrap of information she could find. From the muggy Mist villages to Cloud’s floating metropolis, she’s been through every library and every mentor-- so many spells she’s learnt, so many magical disciplines she’s mastered…

And yet, the life of her dearest friend remains in the hands of a ragtag band of twelve childish idiots.

Her hands tighten into fists at her sides, quivering as she glares balefully out over the horizon. Dusk paints the scrawling landscape in shades of purple and pink-- the waterfall’s spray glittering like starlight against the sun’s benevolent gaze. The constellations twinkled out from beneath the purple skyline, bright star-maps stark against the twilight's beautiful canvas. It was a lovely night to stargaze.

_“Sakura! Want to go to the astronomy tower with me? Come on, it’ll be fun!”_

Sakura straightens her spine, then rigidly walks back to camp-- she’s running out of time, and there’s still ten more zodiacs to collect. Ten more mindless buffoons to coax into accepting their part in the prophecy, while she’s there to shepherd them down destiny’s road.

Time is fickle, and she’s bargained with him too many times for it all to be wasted now.

_“Sakura...”_

_"You’re a good friend, you know that?”_

The gods will rue the day they crossed her.


End file.
